GILBERTON, Pa., April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Saudi concern that limits on greenhouse gas emissions will drive down demand for crude oil shows dramatically that Americans can break the grip of the OPEC cartel on our economy, according to domestic energy developer, John W. Rich Jr.
With crude oil prices rising and with the summer driving season approaching, Saudi Arabia, the world's leading oil producer, tipped its hand this month, speaking out against international efforts to limit carbon dioxide emissions and address global warming.
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries fear that emission limits will lead to energy conservation and reduced demand for crude oil. "We share the concern for climate change, but at the same time we don't want to be a victim," Mohammad Al Sabban, an adviser to Saudi Arabia's oil ministry said in response to talks in Germany about global climate change.
The comments drew a sharp reaction from Rich, whose Pennsylvania-based company has plans to turn waste coal into clean-burning diesel fuel in what could mark the beginning of a new, domestic supply of liquid fuels that would compete with foreign oil.
"Saudi Arabia's evident nervousness about steps to impose international environmental regulations are revealing," Rich said. "It shows that the Saudis are preoccupied with their power to manipulate the price of crude oil and maintain the status quo," Rich said. "It also shows how vulnerable the OPEC cartel is to outside pressure, whether that pressure takes the form of international environmental regulations that reduce demand or U.S. efforts to develop alternative sources for liquid fuels," Rich said. "The more alternative, domestic sources of liquid fuels we produce the greater the pressure on OPEC to stop its ceaseless and destructive manipulation on our economy," he said. "The more effort we put into producing our own domestic sources of oil, the more we diminish the ability of the OPEC cartel to manipulate our economy, and that bodes well for jobs, job security and benefits our country."
WMPI PTY LLC, a family-run development company, is proposing to develop a plant near Gilberton, in the heart of the Anthracite coal region, that will convert "waste coal" -- a byproduct of more than a century of mining -- into clean-burning zero sulphur diesel and other liquid fuels. Key to the success of the plan is the availability of waste coal, which rests in vast piles all over the coal region. WMPI's plant will be able to enter into fixed-price contracts for diesel and other liquid fuels, whereas suppliers/consumers dependent on imported crude oil will remain at the mercy of OPEC.
The Gilberton plant would be the first of many similar plants that could be constructed all over the country where waste coal or other biomass feed stocks are available and produce clean-burning liquid fuels while mitigating carbon dioxide emissions.
"If the Saudis are this worried about the impact of environmental regulations on their cartel, think how concerned they will be if the United States leads the way in developing an entirely new source of liquid fuel from plentiful supplies of waste coal and or other biomass feed stocks available right here at home," Rich said. www.ultracleanfuels.com
SOURCE WMPI PTY LLC
